1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for detecting a person by a mobile device he or she carries. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for detecting a person by a target mobile device that the person carries where the target device is not enrolled in a locating service.
2. Description of the Related Art
Mobile terminals are developed to provide wireless communication between users. As technology has advanced, mobile terminals now provide many additional features beyond simple telephone conversation. For example, mobile terminals are now able to provide additional functions such as an alarm, a Short Messaging Service (SMS), a Multimedia Message Service (MMS), E-mail, games, remote control of short range communication, an image capturing function using a mounted digital camera, a multimedia function for providing audio and video content, a scheduling function, and many more. With the plurality of features now provided, a mobile terminal has effectively become a necessity of daily life.
One type of mobile terminal application that has gained popularity recently is an application for location based social networking. For example, applications such as FOURSQUARE and BANJO installed on a mobile terminal with Global Positioning System (GPS), such as a smartphone, will monitor a user's location and make information of that location available to other users. A user can use such applications to see where his friends are, whether any of his friends are nearby, or what users are at a particular location. Similarly, COLOR is a photo sharing application that shares location-tagged photos, such that any COLOR user within 100 feet can see the shared photos, regardless of whether the users know each other.
FIG. 1 is a diagram of a system for location based social networking according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, a related art system includes mobile devices 101 and 102, that are each enabled to determine their location, such as by GPS, and that are each registered for a location based social networking service, a device 103 on which a user is following the mobile device 101, a GPS satellite 110, and a server 120. The mobile device 101 will determine its location, such as based on a signal from the GPS satellite 110. The mobile device 101 will then upload the location information to the server 120. The mobile device 102 similarly determines and transmits information of its location to server 120. The server 120 determines that the mobile devices 101 and 102 registered for the location based social networking service are in the same vicinity as each other, and will transmit information of the mobile device 101's location to the mobile device 102 in the same vicinity, so that a user of the mobile device 102 may see which registered users of the service are nearby. The server 120 will also transmit information of the mobile device 101's location to the device 103 which is not in the same vicinity, but which is following mobile device 101's updates. The mobile device 102 may optionally elect to receive information only of known users (e.g., friends) nearby. Similarly, the device 103 may also be implemented as a mobile device receiving information of known users (e.g., friends), regardless of the device 103's location.
However, a common limitation of such location based social networking has been that they are on an opt-in basis. That is, they require registration by the target users. This means that the applications are of limited use or value until a critical mass of friends of a user has joined the application services. A user may see little or no value in registering for FOURSQUARE, for example, if he has no friends who are already also on FOURSQUARE whom he wishes to follow or who wish to follow him, because he is unlikely to find, or be found by, friends until there is a reasonable probability that a friend who is also registered for the service is proximate to him.
Further, such applications are generally limited to users of mobile terminals such as smartphones. A user of a device that is not GPS-enabled has not previously been able to install the application or participate in the service. Although there is a converging trend of users upgrading to GPS-enabled smartphones when they change phones, there are still a very large number of non-GPS-enabled mobile phones and other mobile devices in use. For example, a 2011 Pew Internet Project survey found that 83% of American adults have a mobile phone of some kind, and fewer than half (42%) of those were smartphones (approximately 35% of the adult US population). A 2011 NIELSEN survey similarly found that 40% of US mobile phones were smartphones, and 60% were feature phones. Thus, the majority of US mobile phone users would be unable to enroll in an opt-in service, even if they wished to.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method for detecting a person by a target mobile device that the person carries, where the target device is not enrolled in a locating service.